General information

Benchmarking

References to assist you in benchmarking your library against current national school library surveys include:

School Libraries Count! is a longitudinal survey that asks questions about spending levels. The report on the results does not say what spending levels should be, but it does show what school library media programs in the United States are reporting in the survey.

Annual (previously biennial) survey which appears in the magazine, School Library Journal; the newest installment of the survey appears in the March 2012 issue as Brace Yourself: SLJ's school library spending survey shows the hard times aren't over, and better advocacy is needed by Lesley Farmer in the section, Calling all collections: "What was the average expenditure per pupil? The total for all school libraries was $11 per student, which varied from $8 at the elementary level to $10 at the high school level, and ranged from $10 in the Midwest to $5 in the West. Private school libraries doled out $16 for each student, and public schools spent half that amount." Compare to the survey results reported in the March 2011 issue as SLJ's Spending Survey by Lesley Farmer. Table 2: Student Enrollment, Median Library Books, Acquisitions, and Budgets 2009-2010 reported the Expenditure Per Student in that time period, indicating $9.59 for Elementary school, K-8; $8.05 for Middle school; and $9.84 for High school, K-12. Further compare results to those reported in the April 2009 issue's "School Library Journal's Spending Survey," by Lesley Farmer and Marilyn Shontz. Scroll down to the section labeled Budget constraints impact media center efforts and view Table 4. The survey indicates an average Total Materials Expenditures (TME) of $31.03 per pupil for elementary schools, $20.15 per pupil for middle/junior high schools, and $15.42 per pupil for senior high schools.

The U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) report, The Status of Public and Private School Library Media Centers in the United States: 1999-2000. The section, "Library Media Center Expenditures and Collection Holdings," appears on pages 45 through 53 of the 137-page PDF file version. See pages 26 through 29 for Tables 2a and 2b, which give the number of pupils considered in the survey. This information can be compared with the Library Media Center Expenditures tables in order to get an amount spent per pupil.

Book price information

For the past 20 something years, our March editorial has delivered readers the average book prices, with predictions for the upcoming year. While book budgets now compete with many other demands on resources, they’re still the most important factor in budget preparations (as witnessed by the fact that "average book prices" remains the most popular search on slj.com). I'm pleased that this year, Al Greco, a professor at Fordham's Graduate School of Business, has provided us with more complete information than we've ever had—in fact, he’s even promising average prices for ebooks next year.

It's increasingly critical for librarians to have good data. We all know how quickly everything is changing, from the fiscal structures that support libraries to the content they purchase. We need statistics not just to help us plan, but also to help us evaluate our programs, establish benchmarks, and show stakeholders and funders where we stand in relation to our teaching peers. As Lesley Farmer writes in this issue: "Now, more than ever, school librarians need to know how their colleagues are faring, if for no other reason than for equitable educational experiences for students around the country."